| The third ship named Arkansas -- a single-turreted,
"New-Navy" monitor and one of the last monitors built for the U.S. Navy,
was laid down 14 November 1899 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock
Co., Newport News, Virginia; launched 10 November 1900; commissioned as
Arkansas 28 October 1902, Comdr. C. E. Vreeland in command. |
| After shakedown, Arkansas' first duty was with the U.S.
Naval Academy as an instruction and cruise ship for midshipmen. She was then
assigned to the Coast Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, and cruised off the
east coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the West Indies. She continued
to make summer practice cruises with midshipmen, however, and in 1906 was
again assigned to the Naval Academy for instructional purposes. |
| Renamed Ozark 2 March 1909, she was assigned to the District
of Columbia Naval Militia from 26 June 1910 to 6 March 1913. Later that month
she began refitting in Norfolk as a submarine tender and began duties as
a tender 12 July. After special duty in Mexican waters during most of 1914,
she participated in Atlantic Fleet maneuvers in 1915 and operated in the
Chesapeake Bay area in 1916. |
| Ozark was ordered to SubDiv 6, Atlantic
Fleet, 6 April 1917 and soon proceeded to Tampico, Mexico where she cruised
off the coast protecting American and Allied interests. She sailed for New
Orleans 18 December 1918 after which she returned to Hampton Roads 23 June
1919 and decommissioned in Philadelphia 20 August. Ozark was sold
26 January 1922. |
| Of the Arkansas class, she was one of the last group of
monitors to be constructed for the U.S. Navy although the navies of Great
Britain and Italy built and used monitors for shore bombardment during World
War I and the former used them during World War II as well. Single turreted
monitors, they mounted the most modern heavy guns in the U.S. Navy at the
time they were built, 12 inch 40 caliber weapons. The Arkansas class
did not see any combat during World War I and instead served as submarine
tenders. |
| Alexander C. Brown, writing in the Society of Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers Historical transactions noted in a penetrating comment
that: |
"Monitors found their final employment as submarine tenders in World War
I for which their low freeboard hulls made them well suited. It is significant
to note, however, that in this humble capacity they were ministering to the
needs of that type of craft which had logically replaced them for as initially
envisaged monitors were designed to combine heavy striking power with concealment
and the presentation of a negligible target area..." |
Displacement, 3,225; Length, 225'1"; Beam, 50';
Speed, 12.03 knots; Complement, 220 (approximately); Armament,
two 12-inch breech loading rifles and assorted 4-inch and 6-pdrs. ; Armor:
Turret 10", side 8" |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1991), Vol.1 -- Part A, p. 383 |
|
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1968, Repring 1977), Vol.3: G-K, p. 790-793 |
|
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1970), Vol.5: N-Q, p. 196 |
|
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